Lost In Your Eyes
by Lilting Glamour
Summary: Of vanity, apologies, and everything that comes in between. The story of a boy who had everything he could ever want, a girl who wanted more than she could ever have, and the wild dream come true they found in each other. AtobeOC. Please read and review! ON HIATUS
1. Ninety Nine

**A/N: **Okay, so this is my first Atobe fanfic, but I've been meaning to write one for quite a while now. Please give this story a try, and read and review! I know it's a pain to write one, but it really makes my day, and I really appreciate any time given up in writing a review! This story may seem very cliché, but please don't judge it so harshly, and read the whole chapter before deciding. It's over six and a half thousand words- I tried extra hard to make this chapter a good one. Enjoy the chapter!

This chapter is dedicated to anyone who loves Atobe and thinks his incredibly huge ego is simply hilarious.

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, but I own the OCs.

* * *

Ninety-nine.

How she hated that number. So close, yet so far away from what she really wanted the most.

Tanaka Jun was a not-so-proud student of Hyotei Gakuen, and she was very conscious of that fact. To be attending such a school was bad enough- hanging out with all those snobby, spoilt teenagers was a trialling experience in itself. But to be attending Hyotei on _scholarship_?

That was the worst part.

It wasn't so much the scholarship that mattered to Jun. It was the sideways glances and the derisive whispers that mattered to her.

Every time she walked into a classroom, down a hallway, wherever it was- heads turned and whispers could be heard from every side. It was driving her insane- and it was all because of one person, and one person only.

Atobe Keigo was his name.

How Jun _hated _even the sound of his high-flown, aristocratic name. _Rich _was the only word to describe the sound echoing in her ears- just listening to students talking about him reverently was enough to make her gag.

What was his surname anyway? The name Atobe got him everywhere- around in limousines, into the spotlight of the already prestigious Hyotei, into the favour of every single teacher and the principal himself- really, where didn't it get him?

It was just so _irritating_.

It was because of him that Jun hated Hyotei.

Not so much because of his insufferable arrogance and narcissistic, almost on the brink of obsessive ego. No, if it was just that, Jun could handle it, no matter how annoying it was.

But it wasn't just that. It was the fact that for all his ostentatiousness and spoilt-brat-attitude, Atobe still managed to firmly sit in first place in all examinations without even once failing, while Jun was forced to trail behind a close second, which really made her angry.

From the beginning of her first year in Hyotei, Jun had not even once been able to take the first place from the self-proclaimed 'king' himself.

Of course, the Hyotei students did not like that.

_Why give a scholarship to someone who can't even place first, _they sneered, in their aristocratic, snobbish way. _She's so pathetic. _

Jun was weak, and she was afraid to admit it. She didn't want to acknowledge that all of the angry tears had been because of this- it just wasn't fair.

And the strange thing was she didn't actually hate Atobe. Not him. Just his name, his standing, his popularity- really, everything that he stood for.

It was already her third year, and she was going to graduate at the end of the year. Jun didn't have much time left to prove herself, and it was running out fast. There couldn't be that many midterms or examinations left until graduation. Defeating Atobe had once seemed feasible- it now seemed impossible.

She knew that she was going to have to do something else to prove her potential- and she knew that she had it- but she couldn't ever prove it. In every examination, Atobe's name was consistently above hers- sometimes Oshitari's was as well. The genius wasn't called a tensai for nothing- it stung that both could spend so much time playing _tennis _and still be top achievers.

Jun had given everything up- all her sporting activities, co-curricular club activities- all for the sake of her studies. But what was it all for?

She didn't even know the answer to that anymore.

As she stared at the posted midterm exam results on the noticeboard silently, she felt the familiar sinking feeling in her stomach, that seared and burnt painfully.

Losing wasn't a good feeling. She would know- she had experienced it firsthand too many times to even count.

"Jun-senpai!"

Jun turned around, startled out of her dark thoughts, to see Ootori Choutarou, towering over the other students around him, approaching her with a friendly smile. Despite her worsening mood, she felt a reluctant smile tug at her lips. Choutarou had that effect around her, like a drug.

He made her feel better- but when he left, she felt even more alone and disgusted with herself.

"Choutarou," she greeted him, as he jogged up to her. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he apologized to another student he had bumped into. His shy smile was as infectious as always, and although he towered over her by well over a head, he seemed like a little child as he laughed.

"Ah, gomen, Jun-senpai, I didn't mean to be late."

The slender girl just shook her mahogany hair out of her eyes again, sighing half-amusedly, half in exasperation. "Choutarou, you're always too polite. Grow some backbone for once!"

The second-year laughed sheepishly, and he shifted his school bag from one shoulder to the other for support. "Yeah, Shishido-senpai is always telling me that too-"

"What was that about me?" The third-year tennis regular was strolling nonchalantly down the corridor towards them, hands in his pockets and cap on backwards, as usual.

"Ah, I was just saying to Jun-senpai that you always tell me I need to toughen up…"

Shishido laughed. "Damn right you need to. Have you seen yourself, Choutarou? You apologize for things you haven't even done, for god's sake!"

Protesting, the second-year exclaimed, "No, I don't!"

"Sure you do, ask Jun and see for yourself!"

At Choutarou's pleading glance for help, Jun only laughed. "I'm sorry to say this, Choutarou, but Shishido's right, you need to grow a backbone."

Amidst the tall boy's protests, Shishido held out his fist to Jun and smiled in understanding, glancing towards the noticeboard.

_I've got your back_, he seemed to say. Jun lifted an eyebrow, before sighing and touching her fist to his. "Whatever, I guess we are comrades for now because we're bullying Choutarou."

"Jun-senpai!"

As Choutarou and Jun started walking off down the corridor, Shishido lingered for a minute, eyes narrowed as he glanced at the noticeboard. His eyes focused immediately on Atobe's name displayed prominently at the top of the list, and Jun's name printed underneath it.

With one last glance back at the exam results, he jogged off after the other two, trying to catch up with them.

"Oi! Wait up, you two!"

"Ha, where did the so-called dash specialist go? Got left behind again, Shishido?"

"Hey, watch it, Jun!"

"Ah, please stop fighting, senpais…"

As the three of them laughed and talked, Jun could almost forget the harsh sting of the midterms. Almost.

But it was still there, waiting for her to just slip up again.

* * *

Atobe was standing in the middle of the courts, and he was _not _pleased.

Normally, he revelled in the spotlight, the adoration and almost reverence that the Hyotei students, especially the girls, treated him with.

But at the moment, the screaming and shouting of the fangirls crowded around the outside of the courts was simply _irritating_.

Of course, he would never stoop to admit they were distracting him. He was an Atobe. It wasn't possible for him to be distracted by so _trivial _a thing.

But that wasn't the only thing that was…_displeasing _to him. Shishido and Ootori still had not arrived at practice. Atobe understood that punctuality was not something that _commoners_-he ignored the fact that they were attending Hyotei as well- could adhere to, but fifteen minutes late was not acceptable.

Really, they had better have a _very _good reason for turning up late.

"Kabaji," he snapped his fingers, and the tall second-year stepped up.

"Usu."

"Get me my racket. Ore-sama feels the need to play a game."

"Usu." With his ever-monosyllabic, universal reply to Atobe, Kabaji walked off and returned with Atobe's tennis racket, handing it carefully over. Atobe spun it expertly in his grip as he smirked and lifted his hand into the air.

The screaming from the fangirls had reached a climax, and Oshitari, who was watching from next to Atobe, shook his head and sighed. Really, Atobe had an insanely fanatical fan base.

Atobe snapped his fingers.

Immediately, the entire crowd went silent, and Oshitari prayed that for once, Atobe would just leave it there, and hence retain some form of peace and quiet. But of course, Atobe's narcissism would not allow him to leave it there.

"_Be awed at the sight of my prowess!_"

As if on cue, the entire crowd of fangirls starting screaming even louder, until Oshitari could feel his ears throbbing in pain. He coughed politely, and nudged Atobe. "Atobe, darling, do you think you could _possibly _ask your admirers to lower the volume? I can feel a migraine coming along."

The Hyotei captain scoffed elegantly, and turned to face Oshitari. "Yuushi, Ore-sama will not deign to _beg _my many admirers to subside. After all, it is only right that they worship my divineness."

The tensai rolled his eyes, and said in a placating tone, "Yes, yes, whatever makes you happy, Keigo dear."

"Yuushi, sarcasm does not suit your voice. And kindly stop referring to Ore-sama by that soppy description."

Before Oshitari could reply, a commotion burst out amongst the crowd, and the two regulars turned to see Shishido pushing his way through the crowd of fangirls, trying to clear a path through them. "Come on, move! Damn it, can't you see we're trying to get through here?"

Behind him came Choutarou, apologizing profusely to all of the offended girls that Shishido had pushed aside, who all immediately forgave them after seeing Choutarou's shy smile. Talk about puppy dog eyes.

Atobe sighed dramatically, before calling out to the two regulars making their way down to the courts.

"Shishido, Ootori, Ore-sama expects better from both of you. To turn up late to practice is _terribly _uncouth."

Shishido just rolled his eyes and walked right past him. "Yeah, yeah, Ore-sama is always right- it's _terribly uncouth _to talk to someone when they don't want to be talked to by a vain brat." Choutarou hurried after him, bowing apologetically to his captain, he was looking extremely miffed at Shishido's insult. "Gomenasai, Atobe-buchou! Sorry we're late!"

Atobe sniffed, turning back to an extremely amused Oshitari. "Hmph, at least Ootori has some semblance of manners. Shishido, on the other hand, has no sense whatsoever of-"

"I don't want to hear it, you mole diva!"

"Shishido, how many times must I _educate _you properly- it is not a _mole_\- that is such a commoner term- it is a beauty mark that demonstrates pedigree and class-"

Shishido wasn't even listening to Atobe talk about his beauty mark- he was already taking out his racket and heading onto the court. Atobe scoffed again when he realised that the dash specialist wasn't listening to his words, and turned to Oshitari.

"Yuushi, play a game with me."

"Oh?" Oshitari looked even more amused. "And why am I the lucky one?"

"Because you're in front of my face, and I shall deign to play a game with you, despite your commoner background."

"…Atobe, that was uncalled for."

"Ore-sama does what he likes at all times, and is always nothing less than _brilliant_."

* * *

Jun was sitting in the back row of the stands again, waiting for Choutarou and Shishido as usual. She had her exercise book open, painstakingly writing out solutions for her maths class.

She cringed as a particularly piercing scream from a fangirl assailed her ears, and she glared surreptitiously at the crowd outside the courts. She couldn't study properly with all this noise around her- especially when they were all chanting the name of the reason that she was forced to study.

"Atobe-sama! Atobe-sama! Look over here!"

"Atobe-senpai is so amazing!"

"He's perfect in every way! I love Atobe-sama!"

Jun felt her eye twitching as she attempted to focus on the book in her lap unsuccessfully. If only she didn't have to wait for Shishido and Choutarou, this wouldn't need to happen, and she could be studying quietly at home…

Back on the court, Oshitari glanced over at the stands, and caught sight of the mahogany-haired girl sitting in the back row with a book in her lap. He looked over at Shishido.

"Shishido, isn't that your friend over there?"

The boy repositioned his cap as he looked over to Jun. "Ah, yes, she's probably studying again. Honestly, that girl tries way too hard…" His grumbling became unintelligible, and he muttered to himself. From the other side of the court, Choutarou nodded.

"Ah, Shishido-san is right, Jun-senpai studies too much sometimes…"

Oshitari adjusted his glasses as he looked over at the girl with renewed interest. Now that she had been mentioned, he remembered her name vaguely as one that was consistently in the top ten of the cohort…

As he performed a flip, Mukahi looked over in recognition. "Oh, you mean Tanaka? Hey Shishido, isn't she the one who used to be on the track team?"

Shishido nodded as he hit another forehand across the net. "Yeah, that's how I met her. But she quit the team in her first year, I think."

The blue-haired tensai thought about that as he tapped his racket lightly on his shoulder- her name seemed somewhat familiar. It was then that realization struck, and he turned to Atobe, who was busy running his hand through his hair.

"Atobe, isn't Tanaka-san the girl who usually comes second in exams?"

"Hmm? Why are you asking me?" Atobe examined his fingernails, obviously disinterested. "It's not as though Ore-sama keeps track of every commoner in this school."

"…Atobe, her name's always right underneath yours."

The captain ignored Oshitari's deadpan words, instead choosing to snap his fingers at Kabaji, who immediately stepped up. "Usu."

"Get me a copy of the most recent midterm results, Kabaji."

"Usu." Without any reaction, the big second-year trudged off, and quickly returned with a sheet of paper, which he placed in Atobe's outstretched hand. With a dramatic flourish, Atobe scanned the sheet he was holding.

Oshitari stared him in bewildered amusement. "Atobe, sometimes your ability to get whatever you want overwhelms even me…"

"Well, of course," Atobe sniffed. "Ore-sama is nothing less than brilliant in everything he does."

"…You do realise that you're talking about yourself in the third person, don't you?"

"Stop being so cynical, Yuushi. It doesn't suit you." Atobe continued examining the list, eyebrows lifted. "Hmm, who was it I was supposed to be looking for again?"

The tensai sighed in exasperated humour, and pointed deliberately to Jun's name listed underneath Atobe's. "Really, Atobe, how hard is it to look one name beneath your own?"

Atobe just waved him off with an elegant hand. "Ore-sama has no need to look anywhere beneath his own name. However-" his brow furrowed slightly. "Tell me, is this Tanaka not the commoner who is attending this school on scholarship?"

Oshitari's eyes widened in realization. "Yes, she is…so that's where I recognized her name from. She's in my class, I believe."

"Ore-sama has heard that she is rather _mediocre _for a scholarship student- never achieved first place. I am confused as to why she received the funding in the first place."

Oshitari rolled his eyes good-humouredly at Atobe. "Atobe, it may _possibly _be because you're monopolizing the first rank…have you ever thought of that?"

As usual, Atobe just ignored Oshitari. "And to think that the school is actually funding her education- now that I think about it, it's Ore-sama himself who is funding it. What a waste of money."

"…Atobe, your family funds more than sixty percent of the school. You're not one to talk about wasting money."

* * *

By the two hundredth and sixty-seventh cry of "Atobe-sama!", Jun had had enough. And yes, she had been counting, because she hadn't been able to shut the noise out.

Slamming her book shut with far more force than was actually necessary, she stood up, and looked around the courts for Choutarou or Shishido. Really, she knew she was being selfish, but it was going _way _too far.

She caught sight of Choutarou first- he had just hit another huge serve past his opponent, and was turning to call out to someone- maybe Hiyoshi, sitting on the sidelines. He looked up, just in time to see Jun gesturing at him.

His eyes widened in a look of confusion, but it didn't stay for long- the two had long mastered the art of mouthing to each other.

_Can we go now?_

Choutarou seemed to have understood; he nodded, and jogged over to where Atobe was standing, apologizing to his opponent on the way. Jun shook her head exasperatedly- the second-year said sorry _far _too much.

Atobe lifted an arched eyebrow as Choutarou ran over and bowed hastily to him. "Ah, Atobe-buchou, Oshitari-senpai…"

"_Arn_, what is it this time, Ootori?"

"I'm sorry, Atobe-buchou, but could I please leave early? I have something to attend to."

Oshitari answered instead of Atobe. "What's so important that you have to leave practice now?"

Choutarou looked sheepish, and glanced towards the stands, before looking over at Shishido, who was frowning in confusion at them, helplessly. "Ah…that is- I need to-"

Luckily for him, his doubles partner had come to save him from further stuttering and humiliation. Shishido had strode over, hands in pockets as usual. Without a word, he leaned over to Choutarou, who whispered something hurriedly in his ear.

Atobe and Oshitari observed the two with amusement and curiosity, as Shishido's frown deepened, and he too cast a look over to the stands before looking back at the two.

"He needs to leave for something earlier than expected," was his blunt and completely inadequate explanation.

Atobe scoffed amusedly, and Oshitari raised an eyebrow, smile playing on his lips. "Oh? And what is the pressing issue at hand?"

"Shishido, you really need to work on your elaboration."

"Oi, shut up, Oshitari!"

Choutarou took over the explanation, looking slightly relieved that the subject had been broached. "Ah, I have to go to a lesson, but I have to leave earlier than I thought I would-"

Atobe frowned in displeasure. "And you didn't realize it would clash with practice? Ootori, I am expecting more from you than this-"

Shishido interrupted rudely, defending Choutarou, who was looking embarrassed and a little ashamed. "Watch it, you narcissistic diva! Choutarou didn't know that the time was going to be changed!"

Oshitari intervened before Shishido could really lose his temper with the supremely offended Atobe. "Now, now, don't lose your tempers. Let's settle this diplomatically, shall we?"

Atobe merely sighed dramatically, and Shishido scoffed and rolled his eyes, muttering, "Whatever, this is so lame," under his breath.

Oshitari smiled kindly at Choutarou, adjusting his glasses as he always did. "So Ootori, care to tell us why you have to leave?"

The second-year boy looked nervous to have everyone watching him. "Well, I'm not really supposed to tell anyone, but-" He shot another helpless look at the stands. This time, Oshitari followed his line of vision, and caught sight of Jun in the crowd, shrugging at Choutarou's glance.

"Does it have something to do with Tanaka-san?"

Choutarou seemed extremely startled by Oshitari's perception- he flushed and stuttered, not knowing what to say. "Well- sort of…but-"

Shishido huffed out a snort, and dragged Choutarou off by the arm, sparing a disparaging glance over his shoulder to Atobe and Oshitari. "No time to talk, deal with it for now!"

The third-year was out in a flash, grip still firm on Choutarou's wrist, and the tall second-year stumbling along behind him trying to stammer out apologies to Atobe. Oshitari watched with an amused smile as Jun met them outside of the courts, before the three of them walked off.

Atobe, on the other hand, was not as amused. "Hmph, what could be more important than attending Ore-sama's practices?"

"Really, Atobe, your ego is inhumanly large."

* * *

Jun felt like a dwarf next to Choutarou, a stunted aberration of some kind. The second-year was _way _too tall for his age, and he easily towered over her and everyone else in their proximity. Hell, the top of her head was not even level with his _shoulders_ yet.

As she said, too tall.

Shishido had strode ahead impatiently- he was always in such a hurry. Jun didn't even know why he had come along- it wasn't like he was the one being tutored. Although she had to say it- he probably needed it more than Choutarou.

Not that she would ever say that to his face.

"Um, Jun-senpai?" She turned at the sound of her underclassman's voice, and she looked at him curiously. "What is it, Choutarou?"

"I was wondering…if we could work more on English today? I mean, my midterm results weren't that good…"

"Yeah, sure, if that's what you want." Jun mentally sighed with relief- English was her one of her strengths. She looked up and realized that they had already arrived at the school library- they had walked faster than she thought.

As they walked through the glass doors, Jun wanted to hit herself in the face with the ostentatiousness of the library. It didn't matter how many times she had come here- the extravagance was just too overwhelming.

Of course, the library had been donated by the Atobe Corporation, just like more than half of the buildings on campus were. Trust that Atobe to make such a lavish affair about it.

Shishido was already slouched in a seat nearby, yawning in boredom. "Oi, can you two hurry it up? You're so slow."

"I'm sorry that we're not fast enough for you," Jun mumbled underneath her breath sarcastically as she took a seat opposite him. "We can't all be unnaturally fast runners like you."

Choutarou vainly attempted to stifle a laugh, and Shishido just scowled as usual, a reluctant smile appearing on his face. "Whatever."

Shishido pulled out his earphones and plugged them in while the other two got down to work. Jun began quietly explaining words to Choutarou as he listened carefully and painstakingly writing them out, frown of concentration on his face.

"_My parent- _uh, sorry- _parents, was_\- sorry! _–were going at_\- no, that's not right- _to buy me… a apple?_"

"_An apple_," Jun corrected gently. "Apple starts with a vowel, remember? And try not to make the sentence a question."

Choutarou nodded fervently. "I'm so sorry!"

Jun laughed softly as she mussed up his hair. "You don't have to apologize so much, Choutarou. It's not like it's your fault."

"Yes, I'm sorry-" He cut off his words with a hand over his mouth, and she laughed again at his embarrassment. "Jun-senpai, could you read the next sentence for me?"

"Why? Don't know how to read it?"

The silver-haired boy looked down in embarrassment again, cheeks pink and flushed. Jun decided not to embarrass him anymore, feeling sorry for him. "I'm just kidding." She quickly read the sentence he was struggling with and read out fluently in a perfect accent, "_In the palace garden, he smiled at her and held her hand_."

Choutarou struggled to replicate her pronunciation and wording, "_In the pa…palace gar-_ _garden, he smiles- smiled at she-_ sorry, _her, and held her…hand?_"

"Not bad, Ootori." Both of them turned around quickly at the sound of another voice behind them, and what did Jun see but Atobe Keigo, the king himself.

"A-Atobe-buchou! What are you doing here?"

All Atobe did was run his hand through his hair, and sigh melodramatically. "Ore-sama doesn't _need _a reason to be here. I can be wherever I want."

"That wasn't the point of the question, Atobe," Shishido snapped as he forcefully pulled an earphone out, glaring in annoyance at the captain.

Atobe just ignored him, looking at Jun in an unreadable manner before swiftly looking back at Choutarou, who was looking sheepish again. "So this is what you left practice for? Ootori, I didn't think your studies were going _that _badly that you require a commoner to teach you. You could do so much better than this."

Jun felt her cheeks burn crimson, but she didn't have the courage to talk back to him, and she knew it. All she could do was turn away and let her long hair veil her face from the others. Of course, both Shishido and Choutarou noticed. "Oi, watch it, you mole diva! Don't just go around calling other people commoners!"

Choutarou tentatively put a hand on her shoulder, asking concernedly, "Jun-senpai? Are you alright?"

She didn't respond, because at that moment, Atobe chose to continue talking in an obnoxiously loud, but somehow still elegant, voice, "Really, Ootori, you could have just asked Yuushi to teach you. He would have been a far more suitable choice-"

Just as Jun thought things couldn't become worse, another voice, suave this time, joined in. "What was that about me?" Through her curtain of hair, she saw Oshitari strolling casually over, as impeccable as ever. The tensai took a swift glance at the situation, eyes calculating behind his glasses.

Shishido looked as though he was ready to punch Atobe in the face, and Choutarou looked embarrassed and unsure of what to do. Atobe was sporting his arrogant, _I'm-better-than-you-and-you-know-it _look. And in the seat next to Choutarou, Oshitari saw a familiar head of mahogany bent over.

In a second, he realized what was going on, and he sighed in exasperation again. That Atobe and his ego, why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?

"Atobe, we need to talk right _now_."

"What is it this time? Ore-sama doesn't have time to waste-"

Shishido interrupted, cracking his knuckles threateningly. "Atobe, if you don't just shut up right now-"

Choutarou tried to intervene, expression of anxiety on his face. "We shouldn't be fighting in here…"

As everyone tried to speak at once, Jun just sat there, staring blankly at nothing. All she could hear was Atobe's words, ringing in her ears, "_You could do so much better than this._"

The screech of her chair as she stood up caught everyone's attention and interrupted the rising voices. All of them stared at her as she stared at the ground, head bent and shoulders hunched.

"I have to leave now." Her voice was monotonous, and Oshitari winced at the blank tone of her voice. Atobe had really gone and done it this time. "Sorry for being such a hindrance, Choutarou." She shifted her books into her arms and walked as quickly as she could out of the library, biting her lip to try and hold back the burning tears that she could feel coming.

The door slammed behind her, and there was a moment of stunned silence. Then Shishido was onto Atobe. "Why, you bastard!"

He probably would have hit Atobe in the face if Choutarou hadn't seized Shishido by the arms and stopped him from jumping on the captain. Oshitari was in front of Atobe, staring at him in irritation.

"Atobe, what did you say _this _time?"

"He called her a commoner! I'm going to _kill _you-"

Atobe had the grace to at least look a _little _ashamed of what he said, but he replied with a movement of his head, "Ore-sama did nothing wrong, why are you placing the blame on me again-"

"Atobe, stop acting like a spoilt child. You know you were wrong."

The boy huffed in annoyance, and he crossed his arms. "Fine, I was wrong. I shouldn't have called her that. What do you expect me to do?"

Oshitari breathed a silent sigh of relief- at least Atobe was admitting his mistake. "Atobe, you can't just talk down to people like that, you hurt other people's feelings!"

Shishido had calmed down sufficiently by this time, but his expression was still murderous. "You'd better go apologize right now or I'm dragging you there by the hair you're so proud of!"

Before Atobe could retort again, Oshitari pointed a decisive finger at the exit. "Atobe. Go."

"Are you-" he started to protest, before Oshitari adjusted his glasses, giving him a deceptively calm, but sadistic look. "_Now_."

The tennis captain huffed in annoyance, before turning elegantly on his heel and striding off. "Alright, alright, I'm going. There's no need to nag me like a mother."

Oshitari decided to let the insult go just this once, and as the door shut behind Atobe, he turned back to Shishido and Choutarou, who both wore stunned expressions on their faces. "So, where were we at?"

* * *

Jun ran. _Ran_, like there was no tomorrow. She could feel the tears leaving burning streaks down her face as the wind whipped mercilessly across her face.

She knew she shouldn't have been crying. Really, she had heard it so many times before.

"_You could do so much better than this_."

She didn't know why his words had hurt so much. Far worse things had been said to her in her years at Hyotei- but she had never had to leave the room in tears.

It was a horrible feeling, feeling worthless. But of course, it wasn't really Atobe's fault, in a sick, twisted way. Of course he would have no idea what being a failure was like.

At some point- she didn't even know how she got there- she found herself standing in the hallway next to a row of lockers. Leaning against them, she felt the tears stain her face as she felt her body jerk with silent sobs.

She wouldn't allow herself to make a noise. It was already humiliating enough.

The sound of echoing footsteps caused her to hastily wipe the tears roughly away and straighten up, glancing warily at the approaching students. And what she saw only served to make her day just that much worse.

The students walking towards her were third-years, and their faces were more than familiar to her- at least, the girl walking in front of the other two was.

Red-haired, with fair skin and green eyes, Harada Minori really should have looked like a witch. But she didn't- just like the other Hyotei students, she carried herself with an elegant, cool air which made her rather queer colouring combination seem like it was the most beautiful look in the world.

Minori was acknowledged by everyone, even the upper-class, snobbish Hyotei girls, as the queen of Hyotei, as they called her. Funny, because that title made her seem as though she was together with Atobe.

Actually, they were almost the perfect couple- except for the fact that Atobe seemed to hate the sight of her face. Well, perhaps _hate _was too strong a word- Atobe didn't do _hate_, it was more like…finding her distasteful.

But Minori seemed bent on gaining the affections of Atobe- for what reason, no one knew. Sure, he was _Atobe_, but he was clearly not in the least interested, and this was _Hyotei_. There were plenty more good-looking, charming, wealthy and in every way almost as desirable boys.

Perhaps the key word to her infatuation was the _almost_. It was just not good enough for her.

So it was an unsolved mystery, just as Atobe's popularity in a school that was already full of the elite was. And in the meantime, Minori seemed content to stave off any female admirers that came near Atobe by scaring them off with her cool, freezing glance.

Really, she wasn't actually that mean- the way she worked was more subtle than that- after all, she _was _the only daughter of a wealthy businessman, and she did not do _tacky_. Her remarks were just so…_condescending_, as if she was looking down on everyone around her.

But Jun couldn't say exactly what she said that was hurtful to anyone- it was just the way in which she said things- but even that escaped her.

"Ah, it's Tanaka," Minori said nonchalantly, as if she and Jun were friendly acquaintances. But as she advanced slowly in an almost, but not quite predator-like fashion, Jun backed away, knowing that her deceptively harmless words were painful to the point of agony.

_Where's the teacher when you need one? _Jun thought desperately, as she glanced around for an exit or any sign of help. It wasn't her lucky day- there was no one in sight. The corridor was completely empty, and she was already backing dangerously close to the lockers.

Jun cast a nervous glance at Minori, and then at the two boys standing behind her. She knew one of them- he was a soccer jock, and by the looks of it, the other one was too. Even if Minori had not purposely sought her out, the dark-haired girl knew that if she didn't find a way out, _fast_, it would spell trouble for her.

"Y-yes, H-harada-san?" She inwardly cursed herself for stammering and making a fool out of herself in front of Minori, the queen of perfection.

"I didn't quite expect to see you here." A deliberate step forward. "What a coincidence, don't you think?" Another one. "I heard about the midterm results."

Jun couldn't help but flinch at this blow. After Atobe's unintentionally hurtful words, this was _not _how she wanted this confrontation to go. Minori had evidently noticed, because her gaze sharpened and her beautiful mouth curled slightly upwards.

She took another step forward, and Jun felt a lock digging painfully into her back as she pressed up against the lockers. In the back of her mind, she vaguely realized in some surprise what this confrontation would look like to a bystander if there was one.

"I'm _so _sorry to hear about your…_unfortunate _loss." Minori's eyes were wide open and awake, quite different from her usual air of boredom. "It must be so painful to come second again. But you shouldn't worry- second is good enough for someone like you."

Jun couldn't take any more. Suddenly breaking out into a dash, she blindly tried to run, but instead collided with an obstacle. One of the soccer players next to Minori had thrown out his arm to stop her, hissing, "Where do you think you're going?"

Jun, not prepared for the unexpected resistance, fell back, stumbling blindly, and felt herself trip over something and fall backwards.

Her head met the locker behind her with an ominous _crack_, and she slumped to the floor, too stunned to feel the pain yet. Through her blurred vision, she vaguely saw Minori's look of surprise.

Out of nowhere, she heard a different voice saying something she couldn't understand, and the next thing she knew, there were cool, firm hands lifting her head off the cold, hard ground.

With faint surprise, her last thought was of how steady the hands were, something she wanted so much.

And then she blacked out, eyes reluctantly closing in spite of herself.

* * *

It must have been only a few seconds later that she opened them again, head throbbing now dully.

Damn. _Now _she could feel the pain.

"What do you think you were doing?" an angry, cold voice could be heard saying, and Jun, with some difficulty, opened her eyes to see the handsome face of Atobe Keigo himself above her.

For a split second, she thought he was talking to her, and panic rose up inside. But then she realized that he was looking and speaking to someone else, and relief took over.

Her vision was clearing slightly, and her hearing seemed to be coming back too.

"Atobe-san! What are you doing here at this time?" Jun vaguely recognized another male voice speaking in astonishment and with a hint of guilt. It seemed that Atobe had heard it too, because his eyes narrowed, and he spoke again.

"That shouldn't be your concern at the moment. What were _you _doing to cause an injury to a fellow student?"

Jun was faintly surprised at his seeming sense of justice- she was still too disoriented to summon up a more coherent thought.

Minori spoke next- Jun wouldn't so easily forget _her _voice. "Atobe-san, you've misunderstood the situation. Tanaka here had fallen just as we were passing by- we were merely trying to help her."

There was some truth to that, Jun thought wryly. Minori had been genuinely surprised to see Jun fall- but the truth in the statement had been warped too much to be called true. It was more of a half-truth- Minori had plenty of expertise in _those_.

By the look on Atobe's face, he didn't seem to be buying it either. But he didn't push it, instead looking down at Jun. The palpable relief on his face shocked Jun a bit- she hadn't expected _him _out of all people to be so concerned for someone he barely knew.

"Finally, you're awake!" he breathed out, and Jun could feel the warm air fanning her face. She realized with a mild astonishment that she was actually freezing.

"A-Atobe-san?"

He ignored her surprised address, and stood to help her get shakily to her feet. His hands were firm and steady, but surprisingly gentle. Jun supposed even Atobe could be nice when he tried.

"Come on, let's get you to the nurse," was all he said before trying to lead her off. Jun only managed to take a shaky step forward before her head spun wildly, and she stumbled again. She crashed into something solid, and she looked up to see Atobe holding her with a startled expression on his face.

It seemed that he had caught her from falling again. She had to admit that he had good reflexes.

He had recovered his composure, and he only muttered under his breath, "Hmph, how troublesome," before he bent slightly and easily picked her up bridal style. Jun felt her face immediately burn, and she looked away from him, feeling uncomfortably close all of a sudden.

"Wait, Atobe-san!"

Atobe just ignored Minori's exclamation as he strode swiftly down the hallway in the direction of the nurse's office, not once faltering in his step or looking back.

The last thing Jun saw as she glanced back over Atobe's shoulder was the unreadable expression on Minori's face, and the shudder forewarning her that something was very wrong, and she had just gotten herself into trouble.

Damn.

* * *

**A/N: **So that's the first chapter! Please review! It's only my second story for Prince of Tennis, in fact, for anything besides oneshots! Just a note- I know I refer to Choutarou by his first name, but all the other regulars by their surnames- it's just that I feel like the name suits him more. Anyway, I plan on working on this story a lot- I really like the plotline I have thought out for it! But just a word of warning- updates may be erratic, as I am also working on my already 'in progress' story _Shattered Fragments _(TezukaOC) and I am also trying to juggle writing with my increasingly heavy school workload! So please bear with me, and give this story a shot! Until next chapter!


	2. Of Vanity and Apologies

**A/N: **So I'm back with Chapter Two! Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story- I really appreciate the time you have given up! Sorry about the very, very late update, but I also had to post several new chapters for my other story and I didn't have time to get back onto this story until recently. And I had to spend a _lot _of time studying. Basically, this story was last priority for me. But anyway, here's the new chapter, so enjoy, and please review!

This chapter is dedicated to my AMAZING and very talented friend, _Descending Rainfall_, who I am going to be collaborating with on this story and her story _From Sky High_. Her characters will be making cameo appearances in this story from now on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, but I own the OCs. _Descending Rainfall _owns her own characters.

* * *

Jun winced as she felt cool fingers probe her head. She couldn't help but flinch away from the pain, even if it had already receded to a dull ache.

"Next time you know not to run." Jun looked up timidly to see the handsome, arrogant face of Atobe himself, eyes focused on whatever he was doing on the back of her head. She immediately flushed slightly again, looking away before he could notice.

"I'm sorry…" Her words were hushed- they were so quiet that Atobe barely heard them- as it was, he had to lean closer to catch them anyway. He huffed elegantly- was that even _possible?_\- and looked down at her.

"Why are you even apologizing?" At her awkward silence, he lifted a perfectly arched eyebrow. "_Arn_? Most girls I know would be ranting about how much their head hurt by now, and complaining about how much they _hate _Harada-"

Jun's eyes flickered upwards in surprise, and Atobe found himself realizing just how _dark _her eyes were. They weren't _at all _to his taste- no, Atobe preferred large, _beautiful _blue eyes, the epitome of elegance- but he had to admit that they were unusual.

Very strange indeed.

"No, no, I don't _hate _her at all!" Atobe was surprised at that- he used to most girls over-exaggerating their emotions and feuds with others so much that he couldn't even tell if they were just making everything up or not. This girl was different- in a good or bad way, he couldn't tell yet.

Jun was oblivious to all of his musings- she was still talking. "Harada-san didn't mean to hurt me…" At Atobe's incredulous look of disbelief, she elaborated. "I _saw _the surprise on her face when I fell- she didn't mean it-"

"You don't blame her in _any _way?"

Jun flushed, and she looked away for a few moments, embarrassed. "Well…I do, but I understand _why _she would…besides, it's not her fault."

Atobe's eyebrows were lifted _very _high by this point, and Jun felt like burying her face in a pillow and hiding under the blankets. God, this was _so _humiliating. She had just gone and made herself look like a _fool _in front of _Atobe, _out of all people. Her explanation was weak and completely failed to explain _anything_. He must see her as an idiot- why couldn't she have acted _confident _and _self-assured_ like she was supposed to?

"Hmm…I see."

"…huh?" Completely _not _the reaction she was expecting to see.

Atobe finished examining the back of her head and ran a hand through his- was it _platinum? _Was that even a colour?- hair, and looked down his nose at her.

"_Arn, _next time don't fall down. Be more like _Ore-sama_," he tossed his head, "and exhibit perfection from _every _angle."

Jun was only left feeling even _more _unsure of what to do in the situation- what did he _expect _her to say, anyway? It wasn't like she had an answer for that sort of statement.

Luckily for her, though, Atobe continued talking, unaware of how uncomfortable he was making this predicament for her. "What were you doing talking to Harada and her _lackeys _anyway?"

Maybe not so lucky. And who still used the word _lackeys _in the twenty-first century anyway?

"T-they came over and talked to me. I don't know any of them." This was all said in a soft voice, as though she didn't really want him to hear. But he heard her anyway.

"Hmph, well don't talk to them, if you take my advice," he sniffed, "they are too vulgar for Ore-sama's taste."

"Tanaka."

She turned and looked nervously at Atobe, who wasn't looking at her- rather he was gazing off to the side, as though he was unwilling to meet her eyes.

"What is it, Atobe-san?"

"…I'm sorry."

"…" She stared at him in open shock- because since when did _Atobe Keigo _apologize to anyone besides his own reflection?

He seemed to be a little bit uncomfortable- a strange sight for the King of Hyotei- and he shifted irritably. "I just wanted to let you know that, alright? Now go to where you need to, commoner. Ore-sama has better things to do than loiter here."

"A-ah…" Jun decided to take his advice and quickly swung her legs off the bed, standing up far too quickly. She stumbled back, head spinning wildly and vision blurry.

But before she could knock something over or fall again, a pair of warm hands caught her, and she closed her eyes tightly, praying that she was wrong. _Please don't let him have caught me again…_

Fate had some kind of grudge against her, apparently. Because when she looked up, there was Atobe Keigo, staring down at her withamusementin his eyes. _Amusement. _

Jun flushed in embarrassment, covering her red face with her hands. To embarrass herself in front of someone who she had always lost to without fail was incrediblyhumiliating.

Luckily, Atobe didn't say anything worse than, "Hmph. Watch your step."

Jun supposed that she was lucky. Atobe had been very likely about to say something like, _Consider yourself lucky that Ore-sama deigned to catch you. _

She bowed hurriedly, and apologized profusely. "Yes, I'm so sorry!"

Atobe just smirked and held back the laugh that he wanted to let loose as she managed to get up on her own and began to head for the door. After all, he _had _hurt her feelings that day already, it seemed, and he was enough of a gentleman to leave it alone for the day.

And really, he didn't know her well enough to make fun of her.

Just as Jun opened the door, Atobe said in a suddenly serious tone, "Hey."

She looked around, startled and not a little nervous. He resisted another smirk at the expression on her face- it was something that he found immensely amusing.

"Yes, Atobe-san?"

At her half-fearful, half-curious look, all humour faded from the situation, and after a moment of tense silence, he said in a low voice, "…I'm sorry." And it wasn't the same apology this time.

Jun couldn't believe her ears- she half-believed that she had heard him wrong. Atobe Keigo, the king of Hyotei, apologizing? But his determination to not meet her eyes seemed to prove her ears right.

"…w-what?"

That seemed to break the spell. Atobe immediately glanced back at Jun, and there was a mixture of irritation and amusement in his eyes. "Don't question Ore-sama. It was nothing worth your questioning."

A hesitant, reluctant smile made its way onto Jun's face, even though Atobe didn't see it.

* * *

The three tennis regulars looked up when the door of the library opened, and all three of them noticed that the girl had walked in alone.

Choutarou called out to her, "Jun-senpai! Over here!"

Looking around, Jun spotted the three of them at a table, and hurried over to join them. The tall second-year smiled with relief as he saw that she wasn't crying any longer. Shishido glanced briefly at her, and seemed satisfied that she was alright.

"Yo, Jun, where's the diva?"

Jun looked genuinely confused. "Diva? Who's that?"

Shishido felt the sudden urge to hit himself in the face and sigh with exasperation. Honestly, he didn't know anyone more naïve than Jun.

Oshitari cut in smoothly, smiling kindly at Jun. "Ah, Tanaka-san, whenever Shishido mentions a diva, he is most likely referring to Atobe."

A look of realization crossed Jun's face, and her eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh, you mean Atobe-san? He said he had something important to do…"

Shishido scoffed, and flung himself back into his seat, propping his feet up on the desk in front of him. "He's probably gone to admire himself in the mirror and fix his hair. Che, that diva."

Choutarou flushed at Shishido's blunt words, looking strangely more embarrassed than Shishido himself. "Shishido-san-!"

Oshitari let out a light laugh, and from where he was standing near the window with his arms carefully folded, glanced outside with a pensive, unreadable expression. "Hmm…I wonder…"

After a while of talking and Jun's attempts to teach Choutarou how to tell the difference between a vowel and a consonant, the tensai decided to take his leave of them.

Exchanging polite and friendly words with Jun, and an "I hope Atobe wasn't _too _bad", and a pointed look directed towards Shishido and Choutarou, Oshitari made his way out of the library.

Once he was outside in the corridor, shutting the door behind him, he glanced speculatively in the direction of the classrooms.

"Hmm…maybe I'll just go by the classroom…I believe there may be something of interest going on…"

His smirk said otherwise.

* * *

Hyotei did not _do _second-class.

And there was nothing less than perfection exhibited at all times in the school.

So it had come as an _immense _surprise for Minori (that in itself was surprising, she was almost _never _surprised) when Atobe came while she was talking to Jun. _Atobe_, of all the people that it could have been.

Really, she didn't like him all too much, as a person. He was _far _too vain and…_like a peacock _for her taste. But she pretended, as though her life depended upon it, that she did. Because in a way, it did.

Atobe was really the epitome of high society- an only child, sole heir to a multi-billion dollar company, good looks (or so he thought), and a famous name. What else could he want, since he already had the money, looks and name?

Nothing, and she knew it, everyone knew it- hell, even _he _knew that everyone knew it. Although that was to be expected.

Still, whether she liked him or not wasn't the question. In this level of society, what mattered was the name. And the money.

From the moment Atobe had set foot inside the school, he had immediately come into control of the entire student body. There was not a thing he said, not a gesture of his that went unnoticed- he had become a prince among princes, a god amongst gods.

Of course, news travelled fast. Soon enough after Minori had begun her first year in Hyotei, she had been summoned (and it didn't happen often in her household) to her father's study. When she had entered, her father had been sitting at his desk, an expression on his face happier than she had ever seen him before.

Waving her in, he motioned for her to take a seat. "Minori. Take a seat."

She had done so gracefully, elegantly, just as he had raised her to be. In a polite tone- "What is it, Father?"

"I heard that the heir to the Atobe Corporation is currently attending Hyotei in your grade. Is this true?"

Minori- _gracefully_\- tossed her red hair over her shoulder, falling in a cascade of _rebelliously beautiful _waves. "Yes, Father. Atobe Keigo is in my class."

At that moment, she could have sworn his eyes had shone, gleaming with a new scheme that he was probably plotting in his mind. Honestly, there was no word that could describe her father more fittingly than _gold-digger. _Although she preferred _father-that-would-sell-his-own-daughter-for-a-connection-to-the-Atobes. _

But it wasn't like she was one to talk- everyone told her that she was the carbon copy of her father. This was perhaps untrue of her looks- after all, although they shared the red hair and _witchy _green eyes, Minori had fortunately inherited her beautiful socialite mother's elegant, exotic features and slim, tall figure.

In terms of personality, however, it was true that she took after her father _far _more than her soft-spoken, submissive mother.

Not that it was bad or anything. After all, Minori couldn't _bear _the thought of not having the ambition, the passion, the smiling mask that only served as a flimsy cover for the vicious ruthlessness underneath.

"I hear that the Atobe boy is not involved with a girl as of yet."

Minori would have blushed at her father's rather vulgar hint, but she was _his daughter_, there was no way she would see things differently to him. "I believe he is not." _Keep calm_, she told herself, _you know what he's going to say next- _

"Perfect." Her father leant back in his chair, looking very satisfied. "Minori, I expect you to do everything in your power to get him interested. Do you understand?"

There was only the slightest of hesitations before- "…Yes, Father. I understand perfectly."

He leant forward and patted her cheek affectionately, even though Minori _knew _that it was only a farce, he didn't see her as a daughter, only a possession that could be traded, _bartered _for something worth more to him than his own flesh and blood.

_No no no this couldn't be happening- _

"Good girl. Tell me, what is the rule of society again?"

Minori tried her hardest to convince herself that he was right, there was nothing except selfishness in their world, but in her heart, she knew that this was _so, so wrong, _and she shouldn't be doing this-

"…Everyone for themselves."

Except she was. And she was going to do it, no matter what.

* * *

"_What do you want, Harada?" _

The harsh words of Akechi Yuuka replayed incessantly in Minori's mind, irritating her when nothing should have, ruffling her composure to the point she was beginning to feel her fingers twitch with the urge to throw something.

_"Didn't I already tell you several times that I won't help?"_

_Calm down, Minori_, she chastised herself. Ladies don't throw things, and you are a lady.

_"I do have some advice. It's the three step plan called shut up, stop being a bitch, and then getting the hell out of the country before I can murder you. Does that help at all?"_

Akechi wasn't. Wasn't, had never been, and was never going to be. That small fact comforted Minori somewhat, if only slightly.

_"Must I remind you of the fact that you mean nothing to Keigo-kun? I'm still his friend."_

Still, she had to admit the words stung. A lot. But she was Harada Minori. What couldn't she handle? Surely not a few small, harmless, bitter words spoken by someone who, despite her big words, had still broken up with Atobe Keigo.

Minori was just clearing her desk when the door slammed open, and in walked Atobe.

_Atobe Keigo, out of all the damn people that could have chosen to walk through that door. _

She admonished herself in her head- _ladies don't use such vulgar language, Minori, you can do better_\- and immediately pasted a beautiful, dazzling, and incredibly fake smile on her face. "Atobe-san, this is a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Atobe didn't waste any time on meaningless pleasantries- he strode over to her desk, and stopped in front of her, arms folded and an inscrutable, tense expression on his face. "Harada. _Explain_."

Her deliberately blank, unreadable look said clearly that _I know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to say a word_. Atobe knew it, and it did not please him in the slightest.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know _damn _well what I'm talking about. What did Tanaka do to you to warrant such behaviour from the daughter of Harada Hiroto?"

To her credit, Minori's facial expression didn't falter in the slightest. Neither did her voice. "I told you, Atobe-san. I did not hurt Tanaka, nor did I intend for her to be hurt. There's nothing else to say."

Atobe's handsome face twisted into a frown- he didn't like Minori, nor did he like her strange way of twisting lies into half-truths. He had had too much experience with those already- again, who had not, in the world of high society?- and he didn't want to deal with them.

"Harada, I'm asking you one more time. Why did you do it?"

For a second, Minori's expression wavered, and just when Atobe thought she was _finally _going to show her true colours and prove that she wasn't such a _shallow person _like he had thought, she steeled herself again.

"I told you already, there's no reason. I didn't do anything, and

Because she was elegant, beautiful, like a bird, and like a bird, she was locked in a cage.

A deliberate cough, laden with sarcasm, sounded from the doorway, and both of them instinctively glanced in the direction of the sound.

There, leaning nonchalantly (as though this was an everyday thing, finding Harada Minori and Atobe Keigo in the middle of an argument) against the frame of the doorway, was Akechi Yuuka.

Also known as ex-girlfriend of Atobe Keigo. And vehement, notorious hater of Harada Minori.

All of this only went into the makings of the most unlikely, strange, and _awkward _situation ever.

Fortunately (or rather, _unfortunately_), Yuuka didn't seem to find anything strange about the situation the three of them were in. Instead, with a small smirk that seemed to spell trouble for Atobe, and _I'm going to humiliate you in front of Atobe and you can't do anything about it _to Minori, she deliberately strolled over to the two of them, sitting casually on a desk in front of them.

"Lovers' quarrel?" she enquired, almost friendlily (but Minori just _knew _she wasn't), and leant backwards, propping herself up with her elbows. Minori _hated_\- hated so much- how she could look so cool and nonchalant while being so _unladylike. _

For heaven's sake, what had Atobe _seen _in this girl?

Atobe scoffed elegantly, his next words stinging Minori like a whiplash- so, _so _painful, but dull- "Lovers? Hmph, as if Ore-sama would dally around with women like her."

A covert, gleeful glance from Yuuka told Minori that the jab had been deliberately set up. White-cold anger rushed through her, sending a burning flush through her cheeks. But she maintained her composure- she was a lady, after all.

_Ladies don't lose their tempers. _

"Akechi," she opted to greet stiffly, giving Yuuka a wintry, disdainful glare. But the other girl seemed to let the frigid look simply slide off her like melted glass. She instead turned to smile at Atobe playfully, who just rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically.

"Keigo-kun, do you want to go to that café across the road after this? I remember you mentioned wanting to go there once." While she said this, she was glancing snarkily at Minori, who suddenly felt the urge to strangle Yuuka slowly, bit by bit.

God, she was irritating.

And the most infuriating thing of all was that Atobe, _Atobe_, the vain, egotistical king of Hyotei himself, didn't say a word in objection. Instead he _shrugged _and sniffed, "Do what you like. Ore-sama does not need to deal with such _commoner _issues like _cafes._"

Yuuka just laughed lightly, leant forward and _flicked him on the forehead. _The last straw came when she said in a sarcastic, _sickeningly _sweet voice, "Alright, whatever you say. See you outside, _Keigo-kun_," with a deliberate emphasis on the _Keigo-kun_.

Minori was just _itching _to stab that girl with a knife. Preferably one with serrated edges. _That _was how furious she was. But of course, she didn't show a single jot of it. All she did was stare at the two of them (particularly Yuuka, of course) with a hard, inscrutable gaze that said, _Just get out of my sight. _

Yuuka, as if she had heard the unspoken message, glanced mockingly her way, and blew a kiss jeeringly at her. And then she _curtseyed_, the mockery in the long-drawn gesture so blatantly obvious that Minori was surprised Yuuka's forehead didn't brush against the ground. "I'll see you around, _your highness_. I hope you have a _most pleasant _evening."

With that, she swept dramatically out of the room, only pausing briefly to wink at Atobe and say, "I'll be waiting for you, pretty boy," in a sarcastic drawl that could only be meant for Minori to hear.

Atobe rolled his eyes indulgently again, before nodding curtly to Minori. "Harada," was all he said, before standing up to leave.

Minori found, rather startled, that the words had escaped her lips before she could stop them. "Atobe-san, wait."

He paused, but didn't turn around. "What is it?"

His cold tone almost- _almost_\- made her flinch, but she managed to control herself. "…why her?"

She didn't have to say anything more for him to understand. His gaze hardened even more, before he moved, striding out of the room.

"You don't need to know," were the last words she heard before Atobe shut the door behind him.

* * *

In the middle of explaining the difference between a preposition and a conjunction to a very eager-to-learn Choutarou, Jun noticed someone walking in the library door.

And that _someone _looked strangely familiar.

Noticing the girl's curious glance over his shoulder, Choutarou put his pen down and glanced in the general direction as well. His eyes brightened in pleased and surprised recognition. "Ah, it's Kataoka-san!"

Jun's soft brown eyes widened in surprise at his exclamation. "Kataoka-san? You don't mean-?"

But her question was never finished. Because at that moment, the girl who had just walked in the door happened to look their way at that moment, and a hesitant, shy smile appeared on her face. "Ootori-kun, is that you?"

He called out to her with a shy grin on his face, "Kataoka-san! Over here!"

Chizuru jogged over to them, the light blush on her face becoming very apparent, even from such a distance, to Jun and the deliberately (but not really) bored Shishido, who was still slouched in his seat with his feet propped up on the desk in front of him, earphones plugged in and blasting loud music.

When Chizuru was within a few metres, Jun managed to get over her initial shock, and whispered under her breath, "…no way…Chizuru-san?"

No one knew how it had happened (certainly not Jun herself), but although her words had been so quiet as to be almost unheard by herself, Chizuru heard her. She turned towards Jun, and her mouth parted in surprise.

"…Jun-senpai?"

* * *

Choutarou blinked in surprise, glancing between the two girls in quick succession. He seemed to realize what was going on. "Oh, that's right, the two of you know each other, don't you?"

Jun smiled a strained but still pleased smile, one that told of more than just happiness in this meeting. "You could say that…"

Chizuru, on the other hand, looked almost ecstatic, but in a strange way, rather scared as well. "Jun-senpai! I haven't seen you in so long! How have you been?"

"Good…how's track been going?"

Chizuru's smile widened at this inquiry, and she immediately set off on a gushing rattle about what their training involved, how the captain was being _so _unnecessarily strict before their upcoming tournament, how _badly_ she wanted to do well-

Then she stopped, breaking off in the middle of her sentence, and suddenly looking embarrassed and very awkward. God, how could she have been such an idiot? Jun was obviously not comfortable with the subject- the older girl was shifting in her seat, looking down at the thick textbook in front of her.

How did Jun's reluctance to broach the subject escape her in the first place? Surely she should have known that the older student would have been forced into a dilemma at her unwittingly hurtful chatter about the track team.

And Choutarou, who was looking painfully embarrassed, and clearing not knowing anything to say. What was she thinking, acting in such a childish manner in front of him?

God help her, he must think she was a _fool_.

Finally, _finally_, Shishido spoke up in his usual blunt manner, yanking his earphones out. "Oi, Kataoka. How's it going?"

She gulped, and managed to muster the voice to speak up. Cringing at the strange, hoarse tinge to her voice, she answered shakily, "G-good, Shishido-senpai. How about you? How's your tennis coming along?" Her question, although mainly addressed to Shishido, was followed by a discreet, questioning, half-fearful glance at Choutarou.

He snorted, and leaned back into his chair, tilting it backwards dangerously on the two back legs. "Che, talk about crazy. That diva drives me crazy!"

Choutarou admonished gently, "Shishido-san, don't talk about Atobe-buchou like that…"

Chizuru widened her eyes. "Oh, you were talking about Atobe-senpai? Isn't he your team captain?" This was directed more towards Choutarou, who answered with a smile.

"Ah, he is. He's a good captain."

"Good captain, my foot!" Shishido scoffed, cracking his knuckles. "He makes me want to just dash my head into the wall with his pompous comments!" Putting on a high-pitched, rather exaggerated imitation of Atobe's voice, he mimicked, "_Ore-sama is nothing less than brilliant! Be awed by my prowess! Fetch Ore-sama's racket, commoner!_"

Chizuru and Jun let out giggles of amusement, while Choutarou laughed rather embarrassedly. "Shishido-san, you shouldn't be so rude to Atobe-buchou!" But the force of his reprimand was rather diminished by his shaking with laughter.

After she had caught her breath again, Chizuru turned to Jun again, ready to try again and initiate a conversation with her upperclassman. "What about you, Jun-senpai? How're you going?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back and_ burn _them. But Jun didn't seem to take them so badly. "I'm going okay." She smiled a small, _sad-happy-lonely _smile at Chizuru, and then glanced down at her watch.

"Oh," she exclaimed in surprise, "I'm late!" She glanced apologetically at Choutarou. "I'm sorry, but I really need to get going now. After school tomorrow fine with you?"

Choutarou looked thoughtful for a moment, before looking nervously at his upperclassman. "I'm sorry, Jun-senpai…but I think I might need to come a bit later…Atobe-buchou wasn't happy with me leaving early today…"

From his seat, Shishido snorted again, letting the chair tilt at a dangerous angle (_how did he not ever fall_, Jun wondered) as he flipped a coin in his fingers. "Who cares what he thinks? _I _don't."

"Shishido-san?"

Jun glanced half-amusedly, half-seriously at Shishido, before getting out of her seat and ruffling his hair fondly, despite his "Hey!" of annoyance. "Shishido, you really need to stop disrespecting Atobe-san like that-"

He huffed in half-joking annoyance. "Oi, why are you being so defensive of him now? Atobe's a diva, and that's that."

Jun looked like she desperately wanted to laugh, but gathered up her books and glanced at her watch again. "I _really _need to go now, but Choutarou-" at this she looked at said second-year, "-make sure you both go to training tomorrow. _Both _of you." She glanced at Shishido pointedly, and Choutarou laughed.

"Don't worry, Jun-senpai, I will!"

Shishido lifted a lazy hand in farewell. "See you, Jun. Watch out for scary divas!"

A faint laugh escaped her lips, before she glanced towards Chizuru, and said shyly, "See you around, Chizuru-san. It was nice talking to you again."

All Chizuru could manage was a "Yeah, me too," before Jun headed out of the library, books cradled in her arms. She felt so _stupid_, embarrassing herself with her clumsy talking in front of Jun and Choutarou.

One day, she needed to find a way to just _vanish _into the floor. Seriously.

* * *

Locking the door behind him, Atobe made his way out of the student council room, and turned around to be met with the sight of Yuuka leaning against the wall, looking incredibly bored.

"Keigo-kun, hurry up," she drawled deliberately. "I'm bored of waiting for you."

He merely raised an elegant eyebrow as the two of them began walking down the corridor together. "Oh? And why do you think that Ore-sama cares?"

Rather than looking offended, she just gave him a deadpan stare, as if to say, _What the hell? _Instead, she said, "Let's go already. I'm hungry."

Just as the two of them made it to the entrance hall of the school, Yuuka caught sight of a small figure making its way out from another corridor, heading towards the front gates.

Her keen eyes immediately picked out the long, mahogany hair and the pile of books that the girl was carrying. She nudged Atobe, and when she had his attention, pointed lazily in the general direction. "Hey look, do you know her?"

Atobe turned his head in the direction she was pointing in, and his eyebrows lifted. "Oh? Isn't that Tanaka? Why is she still here?" There was a faint note of curiosity in his voice that Yuuka hadn't heard for a long time.

Speaking of which, that name rang a bell. She thought back through what had happened that day, and finally-

"_Tanaka Jun? Who's she?" _

_"A student here on scholarship, consistently gets second or third place."_

Well, her own words were surprising her. Now _that _was surprising. (Yuuka just _loved _surprising herself.) "Tanaka? The scholarship student?"

Atobe barely managed to nod in reply before they came within hearing range of the other student. It was apparent to the two of them that she was talking on the phone with someone- and she sounded upset.

"_No, I told you, I can't do it- what do you mean? What- are you serious? You can't be- fine! Fine. I don't care. Do what you want."_

With that, she hung up, thrusting her cell phone back into her pocket. The girl was obviously distressed- but Yuuka had to give it to her, she had managed to keep it in quite well.

No sign of tears yet.

At that moment, Jun looked up, and with a shock, realized that Atobe and Yuuka were standing quite close to her, staring at her strangely. With a start, she took a step back and gasped, not expecting to see two people whose names she was so familiar with right there.

Atobe looked at her strangely. "Tanaka, why are you still here?"

Absently brushing a long strand of hair behind her ear, Jun replied distractedly, "Oh, I had to finish Choutarou's lesson."

Yuuka tilted her head to the side slightly, observing Jun with a detached sense of curiosity. It wasn't that she had an urge to find out more about the girl- why should she?- but she had to admit, she seemed rather interesting.

"Aren't you the girl who placed second in the midterms?"

The blunt question startled Jun, and quite frankly, Atobe. He knew Yuuka, but even _he _hadn't been expecting her to be quite that forward.

"Well-"

But before Jun could form a reply, Yuuka interrupted. "The one on scholarship? I remember your name. Tanaka Jun, right?"

"Yuuka," Atobe muttered sharply, but the damage had already been done. Jun looked down at her feet, suddenly too embarrassed to speak, and managed to mumble something that sounded like, "_I'm sorry, I need to go_," before hurrying off.

But not before accidentally dropping one of the books she had been carrying behind her, sprawled on the ground.

Atobe bent down to pick it up, but by the time he had stood up again, Jun was already turning the corner at the gate.

He didn't bother trying to chase her- there was no point anyway- and turned towards Yuuka, a deep frown etched on his face.

"Yuuka. That was insensitive."

She shrugged carelessly. "So? I _am _an insensitive person. You, of all people, know that."

Atobe had nothing to say to that last part. "Still, you shouldn't have said that to her."

"You know what? I just don't give a damn."

Atobe didn't say anything. After all, he knew Yuuka, and he also knew that arguing was of no use. But the frown remained on his face as he looked down the street, deep in thought.

_Because he was falling, from his high pedestal, and he was learning the meaning of what concern for another felt like._

* * *

**A/N: **Jun's character is becoming very interesting. I've decided to go with slightly shorter chapters for this story, but more frequent updates, seeing as this is second priority right now. Just a reminder that Yuuka and Chizuru are _both the property of the one and only Descending Rainfall. I do not own them, and I never will_. Anyway, please, pretty _please _review.

Someone asked me what Jun looked like, so here it is: mahogany hair, brown eyes, pale skin, very small (petite) and wears glasses.

Fact about Jun:

_She's left-handed, but writes with her right hand, for reasons later to be revealed. _

I'll leave you all to torment yourselves with curiosity and guess the reason for this. In the meantime, please review!


	3. Unlikely Friendships

**A/N: **Again, a word of thanks to _Descending Rainfall _for letting me use her characters, and writing my own characters better than I do. Please review! On another note, I have now started up a new Tumblr dedicated to writing (fanfiction), so please check it out! The link is on my profile, but if you're too lazy (like me), the address is liltingglamour DOT tumblr DOT com. There will be heaps of fun stuff related to my stories on there, so do go and look at it!

Just a note: I will be leaving for a month-long trip to Europe with my family in a week, so don't expect any updates, I'm sorry. And since I normally use my school laptop to write, but I won't have it during the school holidays, the next update will probably be in February, with maybe a sporadic one in between, depending on how my laptop situation goes. I'm sorry~

This chapter is dedicated to all my friends who helped me to get through my exams last week (yay) for their support!

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, but I own the OCs. _Descending Rainfall _owns her own OCs.

* * *

After leaving the café where Yuuka had taken him, with a farewell to his ex-girlfriend, Atobe stepped into the limousine that was already waiting outside, acknowledging the chauffeur's greeting of "Atobe-sama" with a brief nod and direction to drive home.

In the quiet interior of the luxurious car, he reached into his school bag, and pulled out the book that Jun had let fall behind her.

Absently smoothing out the crease in the first page, he stared down at the cover of the book. It was evidently well-cared-for, with the cover worn but carefully kept, and not a corner bent out of place.

"My, are we getting interested?" a smooth voice drawled out from behind him. Atobe turned around with a flick of his hair, his usual composed expression plastered directly back onto his face.

But not fast enough, apparently.

"It's none of your concern, Yuushi. Besides, what's this hear about you inviting Hayashi to visit Osaka with you?" Atobe raised a pointed eyebrow, which triggered a chuckle from the blue-haired boy.

Oshitari sighed sadly and dramatically. "Well, she refused me. Honestly, Keigo, I would have expected you to be more observant than this."

"What do you mean? Ore-sama is the most proficient in all areas, not least my grasp on everything that happens around me," Atobe sniffed, prompting another laugh from Oshitari.

"What? Anna is a very beautiful girl, if you haven't noticed yet. Her features are quite simply-_divine_. And I haven't even mentioned her legs-"

Atobe cut Oshitari off in the middle of a rapturous, affected sigh with a half-derisive, half-amused sneer of mock contempt. "Fool, any female with legs, and you're wrapped around their finger in a second."

Oshitari just smirked at this, adjusting his glasses and meticulously brushing off his already pristine white shirt for show. "Ah, Keigo. You have much to learn."

He looked over Atobe's shoulder at the café in which he had been talking with Yuuka before, and his smirk widened. "After all, unlike you perhaps, I am _always _in control."

Beckoning with a finger, his tone immediately shifted from scheming and dark to completely innocent, so innocent that Atobe would have scarcely believed that he was capable of breaking hearts left and right, if he hadn't known better. "Now, shall we go and get a bouquet for Tanaka-san? I believe it is high time for the king to find a new queen, hm?"

Atobe flashed an insulted and outraged glance at the innocent tensai. "_Oshitari_."

"Yes, what is it, Keigo? I think you should go with roses. Preferably red. After all, there's nothing wrong with tradition. And I think it would be romantic-"

"Yuushi, there is _nothing _between Tanaka and I-"

"-and maybe while I'm at it, I'll get a bouquet for Anna-chan. I think white would be better suited for her, though, to represent the melting of her icy heart-"

Atobe had nothing to say to that.

* * *

Hurrying back home, Jun fumbled with her heavy books as she tried to fish her keys out of her pocket. After a few minutes of _very _ungraceful and uncoordinated fumbling, she finally managed to juggle her heavy load and hook her keys onto her fingers.

She attempted to balance her books with one hand while trying to unlock the door with the other. The keys jingled, as first one, then another wouldn't fit in. The stack of books was beginning to sway precariously, threatening to fall at any moment.

Jun sighed with relief when the key finally fit in, only to take a sharp breath as she felt the books beginning to fall to the ground.

The books crashed onto the ground, scattered haphazardly around her feet. Jun just stood there for a minute, staring rather blankly and disconsolately at the ground. Finally, after what felt like _a hundred seconds, minutes, hours_\- she slowly bent down and reached for the nearest book.

But before she could touch it, another hand beat her to it.

"Um, Jun-senpai…," a small voice cut through the silence as Jun glanced up in surprise at the newcomer.

Of all the _possible _people that could have been standing there, it _had _to be Chizuru.

It wasn't like Jun didn't like her underclassman or anything. Nothing like that at all. She actually had a soft spot for the second-year genius. It was the bitter reminder of her own failure that she _hated_ beyond anything else.

Kataoka Chizuru was the very personification of the word _talented_\- she consistently ranked first in the second-year cohort in every exam, along with handling an incrediblemultitude of various extra-curricular activities.

It didn't help in the least that Jun had given up on every last one of her extra-curricular activities in order to focus on her academic performance.

And she _still_ (because of that Atobe) never managed to place first in an exam.

Now that she thought about it, she was sure that she had never even placed first in any _subject_, besides English. And even _that _was not a definite.

Jun realized now, with some degree of guilty- _so, so guilty_\- shame, that she had been (however unintentionally it had been) subconsciously forcing the blame upon Chizuru for her situation.

And now, when the wide-eyed, rather child-like gaze of Chizuru rested- not accusingly, but it felt so much like it was- upon her, she was feeling the symptoms of having a guilty conscience.

_Oh God, what have I done? _

The second-year girl held out the book unsurely to Jun, eyes wide with a curious mixture of _sad-wistful-hopeful-naïve. _"Um, here you are…"

Jun automatically took the book, still staring (she knew it was becoming almost rude, but she just couldn't, _couldn't _stop) at Chizuru. "Chizuru-san…"

Chizuru flinched at what she imagined to be an accusing look in her once teammate's eyes- she didn't, just _didn't_ want to see it. A moment of awkward, tense, _I-won't-speak-until-you-do _silence stretched out between them. Neither of them was willing to speak- neither even knew what to say.

_I'm sorry. It's my fault. Forgive me. Don't blame me. I missed you, God I missed you so much-_

Because they did, _so so much_, that they didn't even know it yet themselves.

Jun remembered how good a friend Chizuru had been during her track days- always there for her, quiet and cheerful.

Finally, Chizuru broke the silence. "Jun-senpai…! I'm sorry- for whatever I did! I-" She trailed off there,

But it was quite the opposite. "N-no, you don't have to apologize, Chizuru-san! You didn't do anything!"

"What did I do wrong, then? Why did you just quit the track team out of nowhere?"

There was a long silence, and she felt her heart _drop _(at least, that's what it felt like to her). Finally, she managed to turn away, hiding the tears that threatened to fall behind her long hair and glasses. What came out of her mouth next ashamed her. _God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. _

"...you wouldn't understand."

* * *

Neatly jotting down notes in the margin of her workbook, Jun narrowed her eyes through the thick lenses of her glasses, trying to make out her own small handwriting.

God, wasn't it pathetic, how she could even read her own writing. (Not that it wasn't neat- it was just too _small_. How she had written it in the first place was beyond her.) Just like how she couldn't even answer Chizuru yesterday in front of her apartment.

_Why did you just quit the track team out of nowhere? Why? Why? _

She violently shook out her mahogany hair, letting it tumble down around her face, a protective shield from the rest of the class. She didn't want anyone to look at her right now, it was just so _incredibly hurtful_, seeing the mixed looks of pity and contempt that her classmates directed at her.

Just because she had come second to Atobe again did not mean that she had to be looked down upon. After all, she _had _beaten Akechi Yuuka, the self-proclaimed (and called so by everyone else) genius.

But Jun knew she was just desperately lying to herself. Who was she kidding? Yuuka had the capability of crushing even Atobe, the king of Hyotei, under her foot if she had wanted to. The only reason she didn't score top marks in exams every time was because she (simply put) could not be bothered.

Absently, Jun spun her pen between her fingers as she tried to decipher the tiny notes. The repetitive motion was strangely calming- like some sort of sedative- in that the robotic, _pensive-thoughtless_ movement was numbing, in a way. It helped to block out everything around her, and just let her release a breath within her own mind, a pent-up breath that had been held in for _far, far _too long.

The sudden _screech_-scraping of someone's chair behind her startled Jun, and she accidentally let her pen fly to the ground, falling with a clatter.

A startlingly black streak of ink marred her hand, _black-white-beautiful _and gleaming in the sunlight streaming in through the window.

A hand darted out and swept up her pen before she could move to pick it up. A smooth, drawling voice (that screamed out _I'm dangerous and I know it_) spoke up. "Really, you should be more careful, Tanaka-san. Otherwise others will take advantage of your weakness."

Looking up, it was none other than Oshitari Yuushi, renowned lady-killer and tennis prodigy that was leaning over the back of his chair with a blasé air that just flashed _star-model-celebrity_ and that smirk that had been the reason for several fainting episodes in the past.

Between his long fingers, he was lazily spinning her pen in deliberate circles. He adjusted his glasses slowly with the other hand, and Jun could almost see the baring of fangs that was going on behind that concealing, masquerading smile of his.

"I don't know what you're saying, Oshitari-san," Jun resorted to saying politely, "could I please have my pen back?"

Oshitari didn't immediately hand it over- he spun it around thoughtfully a few more times as he gazed with that calculative look of his at her.

Jun immediately decided, then and there, that she did not ever want that look of his directed at her again in her life.

"Hmm…interesting. Such an open face…I am beginning to see what Keigo sees in you."

The last part of his sentence was lowered under his breath, and Jun wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly at all. "I'm sorry?"

The blue-haired tensai stared at her speculatively for another moment, before letting the pen flick out of his hand and land with a clatter on the desk in front of Jun. "There's your pen." His eyes flickered up for a fraction of second to look at something behind Jun, before he looked back at her with a kind (scheming, as always) smile. "Alright, it seems my time is up. Take care, alright?"

And with that, he had turned back around in his seat, with a strange quirk of his lips that had Jun sitting on the edge of her seat nervously. She realized that Oshitari hadn't even answered her question.

"Tanaka-san," a cool voice spoke up from behind her. Jun turned quickly around to see a certain blonde classmate staring down at her.

"What is it, Hayashi-san?" Jun was immensely proud of herself for sounding so calm. She wasn't in the least calm on the inside. Somehow, Anna always managed to intimidate her.

The beautiful blonde flicked her hair over her shoulder and stared down with a strangely unreadable expression at Jun, who shifted nervously in her seat.

"What did Oshitari want with you?"

The question should have sounded very rude, and it did. But there was something in the tone in which Anna spoke that made Jun stop and replay the words in her mind.

Intermingled, just slightly, with the blunt and rather harsh words, was something that was tinged with what reminded Jun of the way a desperate wildcat guarding its precious supply of food might bare its teeth or claws.

Defensive might not be the exact word to describe it. Nor was jealousy. But something in between the two was probably the closest she was going to get to whatever it was that was in Anna's voice.

But meanwhile, the blonde was still waiting for a reply, her expression growing tenser and tenser by the second.

Jun finally managed to stammer out, "H-he was just returning my pen."

When Anna just continued standing there, staring piercingly at her, Jun clumsily attempted to clarify her meaning. "I d-dropped it, and he picked it up for me-"

"That idiot," the blonde girl scoffed, shocking Jun in the middle of her sentence, "flirting with everything and anything with legs."

Realizing that Jun was staring at her, partially in fright and also in confusion, Anna suddenly changed tact. "Don't tell me you were taken in by his ridiculously overdone moves? You shouldn't trust people like him. All they want to do is break your heart, laugh at your tears…"

She didn't realize that she was beginning to talk more to herself than to Jun, who was now staring at her wholly in confusion, not understanding what she was trying to say.

Anna fell silent, her last words trailing off with a faraway, pensive expression that was somehow far softer than what was usually seen on her face. A few moments ticked by as she stood there, staring at an unfocused point with her own thoughts.

Finally, she seemed to shake herself out of her reverie and looked back at Jun with her usual cool expression. "Never mind. Just don't talk to him. He's trouble, it's spelled out all over him."

Even though Jun secretly agreed with Anna on this point, thinking back to his strange, enigmatic words, she felt it necessary to defend the absent Oshitari. After all, he had done her a favour.

"W-well, I thought it was really nice of him to help me out-"

The blonde girl tossed her hair and froze her expression. "Just don't. Guys like him can't be trusted."

The expression on her face was icy, but somehow, Jun saw a little bit of troubled confusion and storminess behind that mask, and secretly thought to herself that it made the already stunning girl all the more beautiful. Anna was so heartbreakingly beautiful, it made Jun want to both cry and smile, at the same time.

At that moment, some of the girls talking behind them caught the attention of both with their whispered (loudly) gossip.

"Speaking of which, did you hear about Atobe and that delinquent of an ex-girlfriend of his?"

* * *

Minori was not having what you could call a good day.

First of all, there was a little _not-so-little _problem by name of Akechi Yuuka. That absolutely infuriating bi- (Minori had to remind herself sternly again, _ladies don't use such foul language, Minori, get a grip on yourself_) - just couldn't in any way possible be more of an obstacle to her plan of action.

Seducing Atobe might not be what she really wanted, but it was what she had to do. As far as she knew (but you never did, maybe she wasn't) Yuuka was the only one who had managed to do so.

And she was precisely the one who chose to trip up Minori whenever it was possible for her to do so.

"_I do have some advice. It's the three-step plan called shut up, stop being a bitch, and getting the hell out of the country before I can murder you."_

"_Must I remind you that you mean _nothing _to Keigo-kun? I'm still his friend." _

God, sometimes she almost felt admiration for Yuuka, with the calm and obnoxiously snide way she always managed to stay in control of any situation.

But it didn't change how much she absolutely loathed the _unladylike _punk of a delinquent. In Minori's refined eyes, there was no greater insult she could offer to describe Yuuka.

Then there was the _bigger-but-less-irritating _complication of her all-powerful father. Of course, Minori understood exactly why he was doing what he did, but it didn't mean that it made things any easier for her.

"_Come here, Minori._"

"_There's something interesting Atobe Keigo has revealed about his ex-girlfriend in here, Minori. Read it out loud for me, will you?"_

"_Do you see how excellent this is, Minori? Atobe-san is clearly still upset over his breakup with the Akechi girl, and this is the perfect opportunity for you to snatch his heart." _

"_You simply learn from the girl who snatched his heart first." _

"_I want you to take a page out of Akechi Yuuka's book and learn how to seduce Atobe-san." _

Many people believed that Minori hated her father. She knew all of her friends did. But it really wasn't true. She agreed with his philosophy and take on society and life in general.

Which just made it all the harder for her.

That, of course, led to the final, and most _complex_ (Minori decided that perhaps a more fitting word would be _infuriating_)problem- namely Atobe Keigo.

Dear Lord, her life would be so much easier to live if he hadn't been around. Preferably, never been born.

But that was really too much to expect from life, wasn't it?

Yes, she had attempted to seduce (what passed for an attempt at seduction, in more accurate terms) that arrogant _son of a- _bastard, Minori amended.

That did _not_ automatically mean that she was in love with him, despite what others thought of her, and her way of shooting chilly and dagger-sharp glances at any girl who dared to approach Atobe for any reason.

Minori had inherited too much (_far _too much, really) of her father's strong mind to admit that perhaps (just a _little-not-so-little_) that appearances might lean towards her being somewhat of an infatuated fangirl with a not-so-small chip on her shoulder.

No, her drive to get Atobe Keigo to look at her as a potential girlfriend was not that of passion and shallow wishes.

It was one of the desperate survival instinct of a wild cornered animal, and the coveting of what she didn't have, and had always (_always always_) wanted.

Atobe, to her (and hence to her father), was the epitome, the representation of high society. And so he was to everyone else who was in the least informed about the workings of society as it was. In a way, he was a goal she was working towards, an ambition that burned fiercely behind her ice-chilly-cold façade, a hopeless hope.

All in all, she wasn't, as every one of the Hyotei students (including Atobe himself) seemed to believe, absolutely-ridiculously-head-over-heels in love with him. Only with what he represented, what he stood for to her.

Then again, wasn't that what love in high society was?

Clutching the brand-new straight-from-the-store magazine that Morita Leiko, the captain that had led the girls' basketball team to Nationals for two consecutive years, had given to her that morning, compulsively in her hands, she hardened her gaze.

No way in hell was she backing down now. She would take being called anything (a bitch, certainly, but maybe not _ugly_) but not a coward.

She cautiously unclenched her fingers (with a flash of satisfaction, she noted her _pristine _manicured nails) and opened the magazine, flipping through the pages straight to the pages devoted to society.

In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of that _obnoxiously _dyed-pink hair. If there was anything that Akechi Yuuka was, it was conspicuous. (And a sarcastic bitch, but that was beside the point.)

God, all anyone (including the society papers, what in the _world _was going on) could talk about was Atobe and his stupid, _stupid _ex-girlfriend.

Turning her extraordinarily-green _green _gaze on the article, she allowed herself a minute (the time frame was negotiable, depending on how much satisfaction she managed to derive from it) to scan through the page.

A half-cruel and half-angry smile twisted the left side of her mouth upwards in a distorted, but somehow still beautiful grimace. No doubt Yuuka would be somewhat irritated by this, she thought with vindictive pleasure. Preferably outraged and humiliated, but she would settle for any negative emotion in that robot.

Things were beginning to look up for her, after all.

* * *

Jun blinked up at Anna, unsure about what she was hearing. "Um…who are they talking about, Hayashi-san? Is it…Atobe-san?"

Anna rolled her eyes with a sigh that said _what-the-hell _and repeated in a deliberately slow voice (but not exactly mocking), "Atobe, as in _Atobe. Atobe Keigo_. And his ex-girlfriend. You know, Akechi Yuuka?"

The small mahogany-haired girl still looked befuddled, and extremely confused, Anna thought, for someone who consistently ranked in the top five for every test in the third year, if not most likely the top three. "I'm sorry?"

"Where have you been for the last few months?" Anna asked in a mild tone of disbelief that suggested more than was spoken. "Living under a rock?"

Flushing a bright pink, Jun ducked her head in embarrassment, in the process letting her long hair tumble down either side of her face and partially hiding it from Anna's view. The blonde girl stared at her for a moment, before huffing and turning away to head back to her seat. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. You'll hear about it sooner or later."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

Anna glanced back rather scornfully, but with an unusual hint of amusement that neutralised the probably offensive nature of the glance. "You're not very quick, are you? Not when it comes to Atobe, apparently."

She left a once again confused, and somewhat embarrassed Jun behind her.

* * *

**A/N: **Forgive me for the very slow updates on all of my stories. I just, simply put, cannot be bothered. This may be what is known as a lack of inspiration, or writer's block. However, I will try to update as soon as possible on all of them.

Review, review and I'll update soon! (at least I'll try to. Probably not until February. Sorry.)


End file.
